THE Horsham Golf Club has received plaudits from professional and elite amateur golfers who took part in the weekend’s Western Open.
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One of the biggest events the club has ever held drew big names to the course with Simon Hawkes winning the Western Open.
Hawkes’ score of a nine under par 133 was just enough to see him earn a spot in next year’s Victorian Open. He won by a single shot with amateur Adam Tsiamis finishing second alongside Peter Wilson.
Hawkes said he was thrilled to win the Western Open. It was a tight finish in what was almost a three-way tie. He birdied the last hole to finish in the lead.
“I managed to get a good score in the first round and just managed to sort of sneak one in in the last,” he said.
“Adam and I were both sitting at eight-under par and it was an exciting finish.”
Hawkes said the Horsham Golf Club had put on a great tournament.
“This is my first time here and it’s been phenomenal,” he said.
“Country Victorian golf courses are great; the greens are good. There were opportunities at the start of the week for people to go out and have some good scores.”
After the first day, Hawkes led the field at six under par with a score of 65.
Tsiamis had a great first day, and was one shot behind Hawkes.
Horsham’s Lewis Gebert also had solid first day and finished tied in 10th at two under par.
Gebert finished second overall in the amateur division with an even par score.
Horsham Golf Club manager Paul Riley said the event was a success.
“It has been really good and fantastic to feel a real buzz around the place,” he said.
“We had elite golfers come and play in Horsham. It’s been really cool seeing these guys here.
“We had the shoot-out on Saturday at dusk as well, which went really well.”
Mr Riley said it was also pleasing to see spectators enjoying the event.
“We probably had about 100 people around the green on Saturday,” he said.
“We had wine tasting and a band playing, so it was a good feeling.”
The tournament brought big names to the club.
“We had the reigning Victorian Open champion Simon Hawkes, we had Ashley Hall, who lost in a play-off in the Australian Open against Jordan Spieth, it’s just awesome,” Mr Riley said.
Mr Riley said players were impressed with the quality of the course.
“A lot of people have been saying how good it is and I think they are quietly surprised,” he said.
“They are telling us the greens are incredible and we aren’t even in our growing season. The course is going to get even better in the next few months.”